Archive for the ‘Celebrations & Festivals’ Category

Thia year’s New Year’s Eve Downton Abbey Wine Dinner Dance with repeat a gourmet menu and pared wines with complementary wines selected by our House Sommelier. Join us for a wonderful unique experience from the 1880’s as a treasured guest of the “Hornibrook Family”. Our bow-tied butler will greet you with a special memento hand made by the housee staff. You’ll b

e served by “tailed” waiters and Victorian Apron maids and the night will waft with conversation, dancing, and champaign at the witching hour!

During dinner, lively conversation sprang up among guests representing Britian, Israel, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and various cities around Arkansas. After dinner, up came the rugs in the main parlor for dancing and live musical entertainment began, provided by Jeff Long and Mary Kai CLark, well known local entertainers. Flames danced in the fireplaces, candles and oil lamps throughout the parlors of the mansion, as well guests. At the witching hour of midnight, guests toasted the New Year in with a glass of champagne to the strains of Auld Ang Syne.

It was a memorable evening and we are glad to be able, once again, to host so many wonderful guests for this New Year’s Eve Wine Dinner Dance, “Downton Abbey style”! We hope you’ll join us next year. Sign up for our newsletter to catch all the wonderful events throughout the year.

A New Years Eve Downton Abbey dinner party is our biggest special event of the year. An elegant gourmet meal paired
with hand selected wines by our house sommelier gives everyone who loves an elegant intimate evening a chance to wear their black ties and gowns and then
dance the night away to live musicians and then toast the new year at midnight, just as they did a hundred years ago. The event is known as the most sought
after in Little Rock and is limited to 20 couples, so make your reservations now at http://theempress.com/packages/offers/2010-new-years-eve-package/.
Or call us now for all the added details for a special romantic getaway package which includes the dinner, two – four nights in suite of your choice,
gourmet candlelight breakfasts and special New Years Brunch on New Year’s Day. Mention you saw our blog and get a complimentary bottle of champagne in a silver server with your getaway package (minimum two night stay, please).

The annual Empress of Little Rock 4th of July Brunch was a huge hit this year! Friends, neighbors and guests joined Bob and Sharon on the Empress grounds for food and fun. The Downtown Neighborhood Association joined the party this year, bringing with them a special treat: Mimosas for everyone! (or at least everyone of age) Everyone else brought a delicious breakfast recipe to share potluck style and enjoyed a picnic style gathering in the plazas and gardens of The Empress. We already can’t wait to do it again next year!

This Memorial Day Weekend, The Empress invites you to come to Little Rock and join us for Riverfest, Arkansas’ largest arts and music festival. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the event, Riverfest, along with Bruce Cochran and Custom Beverage, will host a wine tasting event and art auction on Thursday, May 24th in the River Market Pavilions from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Bruce Cochran has selected an outstanding array of boutique wines from over 30 wineries. The selection includes a variety of whites and reds that hail from many different wine-producing regions – from Washington State to Napa Valley to Italy to the Pacific Rim, and even a couple of home-grown Arkansas wines.

P. Allen Smith is an award-winning designer and lifestyle expert and host of two public television programs, P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home, P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. His Garden Home, located at Moss Mountain Farm in Central Arkansas, is offering Open House Tours throughout the year. Throughout the month of March, he will present his beautiful daffodil gardens. All tours include a lunch and a guided tour of the house, gardens, and farm. Joins early Spring worshipers from across the region in celebrating an early spring right of passage, the annual Daffodil Festival and enjoy a wonderful day at our very own P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm. And join us here at The Empress for an elegant and luxurious stay to top off your trip.

The Empress invites you to stay in luxuy at an 1888 Victorian Bed and Breakfast and take in the 2011 Annual Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade. Sponsored by the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, the parade will begin at 2nd and Broadway, follow Broadway to Capitol Avenue and then proceed down Capitol Avenue to the State Capitol. An annual tradition, this year’s parade is sure to be an afternoon of festive fun! Santa and Mrs. Claus will be joined by various entries such as marching bands, floats, cars, animals and much more!

Following the parade at dark (approximately 6pm) enjoy the Lighting of the State Capitol Ceremony with entertainment and fireworks!

Want a fun weekend getaway that includes Holiday Magic? Book a room with the Empress to enjoy the festivities in style! Ask us about our Holiday discounts!

It is going to be a Star Spangled Fourth of July in Little Rock and at The Empress! Join us for a brunch on the grounds before heading out to Little Rock’s Independence Day attractions!
Activities in Little Rock include:
Free Admission Day at The William J. Clinton Presidential Library
Fun on The Fourth! at Pinnacle Mountain State Park (includes tug-of-water, water balloon volleyball, relay races and more!)
POPS ON THE RIVER- Arkansas’ Largest 4th on July Celebration includes a performance by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, firework and concessions of beer, soft drinks, corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, etc.
Our Star-Spangled Package gives you easy access to all that Little Rock has to offer. It includes:

This Memorial Day Weekend, join the Empress and Little Rock in celebrating Riverfest. This is Arkansas’ largest and most popular festival bringing you live music, food, art and fun! There is the Rock-N-Roll Stroll Riverfest 5K, a kidzone and tons and food and craft vendors. The Osborne Family Fireworks are a spectacular sight as they light up the sky and the river. And let’s not forget about the music! There are six stages offering such nationally reknowned acts as Widespread Panic, Poison, Nelly and Charlie Daniels Band and local favorites Kingsdown, Randall Shreve and the Sideshow and Brown Soul Shoes!

The Empress offers a Riverfest Memorial Day Package that will take the worry and the hassle our of planning for the big weekend, so call us today at 501-374-7966 to set up your dream weekend!